I guess it would depend on the size of the company. One small outfit I worked for had a vacation calendar which got passed around and people could choose their times based on seniority and only 2 people could be on vacation at a time. This also meant we had to get as caught up as possible and be prepared to be swamped upon return.

It depends on the size of the company and your job title. Some companies want to be notified months ahead of time of your vacation days. If your job is upper management, then its your responsibility to find someone to cover for you while you are gone. The more important your job is to the company, the more likely you need to make sure all your responsibilities are delegated to people who are competent and understand how to run things while you are gone.

I'm one of those people who has a hard time leaving the job behind when I go on vacation, so if I am delegating responsibilities I am always sure to know and trust the work of the person to whom I am leaving it. Sometimes this is hard to do, but to be healthy I have to just let it go...

Lucky thing that where I work there are people to cover your position when you are gone. They cover just the basic tasks that you have to complete. There are weekes though where we are busy that my employer does not let us off. Just comes with the job.